Housing

A new survey has revealed that the housing bust has taken a toll on the fabled "American Dream," with the majority of respondents asserting that policies should be directed "to encourage rentals equally as much as home purchases."

April 4, 2013 - Los Angeles Times

For far too long, the shaping of public spaces has been left to architects and urban planners, who plan from the top down. The most successful projects involve people directly in deciding how their public spaces will look, feel, and operate.

April 4, 2013 - Shelterforce Magazine

With 279 submissions received, the pubic voting period has begun for determining who will receive the $1,000,000 in grants being awarded to improve the quality of life in Los Angeles along eight key indicators.

April 2, 2013 - Good

As a property buying binge by the global super-rich makes parts of London "more international, more expensive and more empty," the government is looking to ease the conversion of offices to residences. Can this ease the city's housing shortage?

April 2, 2013 - The Wall Street Journal

According to Michael Pettis, who teaches finance at the University of Beijing and is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, China "is awash in cash and credit," stoking fears of an out of control housing bubble.

April 2, 2013 - The New York Times

In Canada, more people live in suburban high-rise apartment buildings than any other housing type. Doug Saunders looks at the country's belated recognition for its "elevator suburban" identity.

March 31, 2013 - The Globe and Mail

1960s and 70s era Dingbat buildings, which are common in many California cities, may be hazardous to more than just your design sensibilities. Their much-loathed parking-oriented designs can make buildings especially vulnerable to earthquakes.

March 29, 2013 - SF.Streetsblog

Public housing models in the U.S. are becoming more community-oriented and taking varying demographics into account during the design process. Engagement with the street, the neighborhood, and social services are creating new design typologies.

March 29, 2013 - Architectural Record

The certainly won't win any design awards, but new multi-family residential buildings erected by Hasidic developers in Brooklyn show that it's possible to build spacious and cheap housing in New York for families small and large.

March 28, 2013 - The New York Observer

The conversion of an historic art deco baseball stadium in Indianapolis into loft apartments is one of the most inventive adaptive re-use projects we've ever seen.

March 26, 2013 - The Architect's Newspaper

A new study conducted by the Center for Neighborhood Technology shows that homes in close proximity to transit stations lost much less of their value during the collapse of the housing market, reports Tanya Snyder.

March 24, 2013 - DC.Streetsblog

New analysis of census data has found that a quarter of the condos in some areas of downtown Vancouver are empty or occupied by non-residents, leading analysts to raise concerns about the role of investors in the city's housing market.

March 22, 2013 - The Globe and Mail

The rapid recovery of the housing market has caught America's home builders off guard with record low levels of inventory. The return of "bubblelike price jumps" and bidding wars are causing problems for buyers and sellers alike.

March 22, 2013 - The New York Times

Over the course of the year, the editors of Planetizen review and summarize thousands of articles, books, studies and editorials related to planning and urban development. Here are our picks for the most notable planning trends of the past year.

March 19, 2013 - Jonathan Nettler

Did the rezoning of the Williamsburg waterfront backfire? Stephen Jacob Smith reflects on the lack of transition between the neighborhood's skyscraping waterfront and its low-rise inland, a missing middle mandated by recent upzoning.

March 17, 2013 - New York Observer

Lamar Anderson offers a window into some promising extremely inexpensive housing solutions that engage the user in the design and construction process.

March 17, 2013 - Architectural Record

Apparently, "one of the oldest home styles in the world" is making a comeback. Alyssa Abkowitz looks at the growing trend in incorporating courtyards into new home designs.

March 16, 2013 - The Wall Street Journal

David Moser pens a compelling essay that examines the ways in which sprawling auto-dependent land use patterns exacerbate poverty. As more low-income individuals and families are pushed to the suburbs, "this problem is gaining urgency."

March 13, 2013 - Citytank

Brad Pitt's Make It Right foundation has built 90 cutting-edge homes in New Orleans' largely abandoned Lower Ninth Ward. Stores and services have stayed away, however, prompting many to wonder if the area will ever become a livable community again.

March 13, 2013 - The New Republic

Using funds made available by savings captured through administrative reforms and other sources, New York's beleaguered Housing Authority has made considerable progress in tackling one of its most pressing problems - its backlog of maintenance jobs.

March 12, 2013 - Crain's New York Business